I don't know, man. The characters dysfunctional dynamic hasn't changed, I think it's only they aren't playing off of themselves as much as the original run. Everyone is cast off to the wind and doing their own thing. I think the idea is that the movie will be a return to form. If you're struggling with these episodes and you liked the previous run, I say stick with it. It's just your brain wrapping itself to this format but it's a rewarding top-notch Arrested Development installment. The original series took its time with me. Give it time and this season should not disappoint.

I think it was important for them to change the format. Why would we want more of the same?

Regarding the movie, I feel the idea could work. I mean the "movie" is already a character in the show so I'm curious to how that paradigm is going to play out.

I'm up to episode 5. Slow start, was somewhere between "eh" and "meh" for the first episode, but there've been some great moments. I agree with Dinger Thomas that it's not as funny as the original but I'm not so disappointed by what I've watched that I'm disgusted by the whole thing. It is more of a long-form, single episode broken into 15 parts that can sort of stand alone by themselves but (probably) need to be seen altogether for them to make sense. But like any long form, single episode that stretches (whatever 30x15 is) minutes long, there's a ton of fat that could be trimmed.

I would also say that although the original run didn't require the context of the whole series, but it was certainly more rewarding in order to get the constant running gags of the show. We've never seen Arrested Development attempt a season long story arc. The new iteration is less like the sitcom Arrested Development was back in the day, but no less Arrested Development. As the episodes progress, there's simply more to reference.

It feels pretty tight by the end, Arz, with all the concurrent story lines. It is a bit to swallow in the beginning. Pacing is slower, Michael's episodes are mostly downers, but that void fills up and you're all like:

Will reserve judgement on whether this is "better" or not once I rewatch and get a few years perspective on it.

That's where I fell asleep, I'll have to pick up there again and see if it takes.

I'm not disgusted by the whole, more like, "do I really want to spend this much time on watching a full season of something that has thus far been entirely unsatisfactory and unrewarding when there are so many other things I could be doing that are satisfactory and rewarding."

That's where I fell asleep, I'll have to pick up there again and see if it takes.

I'm not disgusted by the whole, more like, "do I really want to spend this much time on watching a full season of something that has thus far been entirely unsatisfactory and unrewarding when there are so many other things I could be doing that are satisfactory and rewarding."

I guess that's my main complaint with them. They're too recognizable for who they are. I mean, I knew who Jeffrey Tambor was before, but he wasn't so famous that I couldn't accept him as the George Sr. character.

Plus, everything Seth Rogen does, he's playing Seth Rogen playing that thing. So here he's Seth Rogen playing Seth Rogen playing George Sr. Wiig is better, but I still feel kind of the same way.

I also think they missed a real opportunity to set up an awesome running gag with Ron Howard by NOT showing him, but only letting Michael hear his voice. He could always be behind something or obscured somehow, so that you never see him and then you could have the narration interact more with the dialog. I guess I'm thinking kind of how you never see the president character on Veep, but going further with it.

Especially when we've seen Jessica Walter and Jeffrey Tambor play the younger versions of those characters. (edit: But the origins of Barry Zuckercorn were pretty funny)

Some people got tired of the Ron Howard motif but I didn't. They made Ron (I call him Ron now) an actual character while the narrator is not Ron Howard the character is still Ron Howard. I mean we meet Ron in a space ship!